"None of the advances in technology would have seemed possible only a few years ago, and if HS2 had been started 30 years ago it may well have been a viable project. Now, in the timescale which is envisaged for the entire HS2 project, I think we are building a shiny new railway when what we should be doing is investing in new technology, improving local and existing transport systems." - Cheryl Gillan MP on Comment: Here are just some of the 80-plus ways in which HS2's £33 billion could better be spent

"George Osborne will on Wednesday announce £11.5bn of election year spending cuts, in a spending review statement that will also try to breathe life into the government’s much-criticised infrastructure programme. The chancellor hopes to balance the latest round of cuts – the sixth year of reductions since the coalition came to power in 2010 – by promising long-term capital commitments to road, rail, energy, housing and broadband projects." - FT (£)

"Up to 120,000 expat pensioners will lose their winter fuel allowance under plans to be announced by George Osborne today. The Chancellor will unveil a “temperature test” to stop Brits who have retired to hotspots like Spain and Portugal pocketing up to £300 a year. The move — part of the Government spending review — is another step in cutting the cost of pensioners’ benefits." - The Sun

"George Osborne will announce the first steps towards performance-related pay across the public sector today as he scraps automatic salary rises linked with time served. Setting out plans to cut public spending by £11.5 billion in 2015-16, the Chancellor will impose a further squeeze on the wages of six million workers by abolishing incremental pay." - The Times (£)

The public/private sector pay gap has been increasing, despite austerity - The Times Leader (£)

"Lib Dem sources said they were ‘surprised’ the Tories did not want to press the case for a married couples tax allowance as Mr Cameron claims it is one of his priorities. In contrast, Lib Dems had called for a mansion tax – one of their pet policies – to be in the Queen’s Speech but this was blocked by the Tories. A senior source familiar with the discussions said: ‘Cameron and Osborne made no effort at all to get the marriage tax break in the Queen’s Speech. ‘We found that surprising since they keep going on about it." - Daily Mail

"She started the pressure group in her own cafe following the death of her mother at the hospital. But yesterday she handed over the keys to the business, having agreed a cut-price sale on eBay. ‘People have been coming into the cafe shouting that nothing happened at Stafford, that I am lying and there were no unnecessary deaths,’ she said last night. I have been run out of town by small minded people, leaving my home, my livelihood and my friends because a few misinformed local political activists have fuelled a hate campaign based on lies." - Daily Mail

"A senior police source said that authorisation was given for two meetings between Mr Brooks, his legal representatives and investigating officers to be recorded, according to the BBC. Mr Brooks was with Mr Lawrence on the night he was killed in a racist attack in Eltham, southeast London, in 1993. Scotland Yard said that the claims had been referred to its directorate of professional standards as a matter or urgency." - The Times (£)

"I was on £6.55 in my last job," she said. "If you don't want to go to college, start at the bottom and work your way up." Such are the prevailing opinions of what pollsters call Generation Y, the millions of people born between 1980 and 2000, who have grown up in a country in which postwar collectivism is increasingly but a distant memory, and the free-market worldview handed on from Thatcher, to Major to Blair and Brown and now Cameron, is seemingly as ordinary and immovable as the weather." - The Guardian

Westminster is full of muppets and comedians

"A damning new poll reveals the public cannot correctly name most of the Cabinet or party leaders – with hilarious results. Labour leader Ed Miliband suffers the indignity of being mixed up with Bert from Sesame Street while Chancellor George Osborne is confused with Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and Home Secretary Theresa May is mistaken for comedian Sarah Millican." - Daily Mail

"The European Parliament was tonight embroiled in yet another scandal after MEPs were accused of claiming €300 expenses for only a few minutes work. Two politicians were filmed on a hidden camera arriving moments before the evening deadline after which MEPs cannot claim a daily allowance of €300 expense - a scam know as 'sign in and sod off'. And when Italian Raffaele Baldassarre and Czech Miloslav Ransdorf were confronted they reacted with anger to questions about their expenses as they leave the Brussels building a few minutes later." - Daily Mail

"Last night committee chairman John Whittingdale said their patience had snapped. He said: “We would be very interested to hear his views.” Committee member Conor Burns added: “It’s disappointing it hasn’t been a more straightforward exercise to get him to appear before us.” It is thought to be the first time such a senior judge was summoned to give evidence to MPs. The committee can compel him to attend if he refuses again — leading to an unprecedented battle between Parliament and the judiciary." - The Sun

Tracey Crouch forces new bullying powers into law

"Ministers were yesterday forced to include school bosses among police and other officials able to call on the new sanctions. The tough Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance are court orders set to replace Labour’s discredited Asbos. Extending those powers to teachers represents the biggest clampdown yet on class tyrants." - The Sun

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